THERE is nothing like Arlington in Britain, a national cemetery for all who have died in the service of their country. London has St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey, with their grand memorials, and the great graveyards of endless war dead in Flanders, Changi and Normandy. But Arlington is all those, and more.
Category Archives: Americas
Dominican Republic: All Inclusive
“Good food, good wine, good cigars – we are all about relaxing and enjoying life.”
Honduras: Treasures Island
MOST VISITORS to Roatan arrive in the cruise port of Coxen Hole, a rather unfortunate name for a fairly unprepossessing dock, dominated by chain-link fences and swarms of tour buses. Things improve the further you get from the harbour, and that’s something (with no disrespect to the quirky Afro-antillean charms of Coxen Hole) that’s trueContinue reading “Honduras: Treasures Island”
Buenos Aires: A life of style
ARRIVING in Buenos Aires, you could be forgiven for thinking you were still in Europe. Graceful parks, apartment blocks and boulevards, the bustling citizens chasing style – you might be in Paris or Milan.
Ecuador: Capital highs
DID YOU KNOW that Panama hats actually come from Ecuador? And, as I learned on my visit to Otovalo Indian market in Ecuador’s north, the less light that shines through when you hold one up to the sun, the finer the weave and the more the price rises.
Wyoming: Pony Express
IN MAY 1860, ‘Pony Bob’ Haslam was riding the Pony Express east from Friday’s Station on the California-Nevada state line (where the resort of Lake Tahoe is today) to Buckland’s Station, 75 miles away in Nevada. At Buckland’s his relief refused to ride because of Indian trouble, so Haslam carried on to Smith’s Creek –Continue reading “Wyoming: Pony Express”
Missouri: The real Jesse James
THEY ARE very nice people in Middle America and tend not to say bad things about anybody. However, try as they might to put a fair spin on it, there’s no getting around the fact that the story of Jesse James, for all the mythology, is a nasty one.
Mendoza: Wine from the Andes
SIT IN ONE of the many quiet squares of Mendoza and you feel a long way from anywhere. Although it’s not the prettiest of towns – there are one or two bustling avenues of anonymous shops, vibrant with identikit Internet cafés, and a few interesting colonial churches and municipal buildings – the land around itContinue reading “Mendoza: Wine from the Andes”
Greenland: Real life… and certain death
‘ONCE your plane takes off again, you’re stuck here until Monday,’ says Susanna, the guide who meets me on Friday morning. ‘There are no more flights in or out.’ Welcome to one of the most remote spots on Earth, where the January temperature averages a bracing -27ºC (-16ºF). Kangerlussuaq in Greenland is the former USContinue reading “Greenland: Real life… and certain death”
Canada: The Rockies theme
‘ALL A-B-O-A-R-D.’ Who of us has not wanted to climb aboard a big North American train as the guard calls out that iconic warning? OK, there’s no tearful blonde waving on the platform, only the Rocky Mountaineer office staff lined up to send us off from Vancouver (a nice touch, though). But we’re going onContinue reading “Canada: The Rockies theme”
Inherit The Earth 